Dad smiles at me.“You’ll what?”He tilts his head, amused by my threats.“I never thought I’d say this, but you might actually join the family business someday.”
“Over my dead body,” I scoff at his suggestion.
“Don’t be so melodramatic, Nova, you would actually be pleased with our mission.”
“Kidnapping a child?”I shake my head and stalk closer to the prison cell.“Are you okay?Do you need food, water, a blanket?”I ask, ignoring my own flesh and blood.
“He’s fine,” Dad shouts at me.
The little boy shrugs.
“What’s your name?”
Dad’s voice reverberates through the prison cell.“Tell her, and I’ll kill you myself.”
The child slinks back to the corner of the cell.
“You’re a monster,” I growl at Dad and begin to stomp up the stairs.
He grabs me by the arm, yanking me back down the two stairs that I’ve made it up.“And you’re going to get us both killed if they know I’ve said anything to you.Do you have a death wish?”
“I’m not afraid of dying,” I say, staring him cold in the eyes.“I stopped being afraid when I watched my loved ones die in front of me.”
He exhales sharply.“I’m sorry you witnessed that, Nova.”
Dad steps closer, his hand reaching out to touch me, and I balk, keeping out of his reach.It’s not that I’d usually believe he’d hurt me, it’s that he has a child imprisoned, and I’m beginning to wonder if I really know my father at all.
Fifteen
Nikki
Lunch goes about as well as can be expected.I’m a bit relieved we end up cancelling our afternoon spa appointment because I don’t think Harper and I could handle another couple of hours together.
“You’re home, kitten,” Dante says, greeting me as soon as I’m in the door.His hands are all over me, his breath tickling my neck, and I swear the more I’m away, the more the man craves my company.
He helps me out of my coat, and I slip out of my shoes, following him down the hallway to his office.
Dante has his arm snaked around my waist as he pulls me into his private escape and shoves me against the door, slamming it shut behind us.His mouth is fused to mine, his tongue parting my lips, and I willingly oblige.
Nearly twenty years together, and this man still makes me weak at the knees.His lips pepper my skin, trailing down my neck, and I feel warmth flood through my body.
“Dante,” I mumble half-coherently as I try to focus on why we’re actually in his office.
It has nothing to do with sex, but somehow, we always forget that when it’s the two of us alone.It’s no wonder we only ended up with Luca and not a dozen children, but I’m grateful for the one I have.
“Tell me everything.”Dante kisses his way down my breasts, and my fingers tangle in his thick, dark hair as I pull his face back up to reach mine.
“She won’t betray the family,” I say, certain that I’ve spent enough time with her to know the truth.
“Are you sure?”Dante questions, his brow pinched as he pulls away from our heated exchange of kisses.
“She’s conflicted, that much is obvious, but she won’t mention what she saw last night or the boy, and I gave her the opportunity to tell me in private.You aren’t to harm a hair on her head,” I warn him.
A crooked grin crosses his features.It’s rare to see him smile, but I love it when he lets down his guard to let me inside.“Are you giving me orders, kitten?”
“I’m telling you that if you hurt her, our son will never forgive you.”
Dante pulls back and folds his arms across his chest.He crosses his legs as he leans back on the desk, considering my words.“There are other girls.”
